ROLE OF RYTHUBAZAR IN URBANISATION A CASE STUDY OF HYDERABAD

S.P. Krishna Veni

Introduction: It is a long felt need to have a ready-made platform for those aspiring to have a big shopping, modern yet simple and accessible to all people of all income groups. On the basis of this the idea of Apna Bazar came about more than a decade back before the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh initiated the Rythu Bazar and Gruha Mitra Schemes. Rythu Bazar or Farmers market is the market where the marketing between the farmers and consumers is done directly by eliminating the middle men and commission agents. These middle men or commission agents charge high level of commission fee from the farmers who come to market yards to sell their agricultural produce. This leads to rise in prices of these products to benefit the middle men at the cost of the farmers and consumers. Direct marketing helps in complete elimination of middle men and ensures higher remuneration to the farmers and greater satisfaction to the consumers in obtaining agricultural commodities at affordable prices. Therefore, Rythu Bazar is one of the farmers friendly direct marketing systems in operation in Andhra Pradesh. A model bankable project for Rythu Bazar has been developed to create awareness about the development of agricultural marketing among bankers, financial institutions, potential entrepreneurs in private and co-operative sectors, farmers groups, Govt. functionaries etc. In view of the above, we made a modest attempt to study the role of Rythu Bazars in Urban areas. Hyderabad choosen for our anysis.

Objectives 1. To examine remunerative prices to the farmers and provide fresh vegetables and other products to consumers at reasonable rates deductions. 3. To enable and facilitate proper weighments and to curb malpractices in weighments in providing vegetables and farm produce. 4. To examine direct interface between farmers and consumers eliminating intermediaries in trade. Paper is submitted at Two Day National Seminar on Urbanisation in India: Problems & Prospects held at Dept of Economics, University college for women, Koti On 24-25th Jan 09 *Research Scholor, Dept of Economics, Osmania University, Hyderabad-7. I am grateful to Prof. A K Vasudevachary for his academic support in Preparing this paper. everyday. 2. To facilitate prompt realization of sale produces to farmer without any

Methodology

The study covers both the primary and secondary data. Descriptive research is most suitable. The primary data was collected by interview method by using structured questionnaire. For the purpose of study, the data has been collected from nine Rythu Bazars of Hyderabad district or GHMC [The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation]. Sources of data The secondary data was collected from the published records, journals, magazines, web portals, news papers, and through general discussions with government officials of Rythu Bazar. Sample technique Universe: Farmer vendors marketing their produce at Rythu Bazars. Sample Area: All the nine Rythu Bazars working at Hyderabad [GHMC] Sample size: A sample of ten to twelve farmers vendors and consumers from all the nine Rythu Bazars of Hyderabad district totaling to a sample of hundred each. Techniqes used: For the present study important statistical tools are used to derive the inferences are averages, percentages etc Establishment of Rythu Bazars: Initially about 49 Rythu Bazar or Kisan Ki Mandi are initiated by the government of Andhra Pradesh on January 6th, 1999. Within a span of nine months, number of Rythu Bazars has increased from 49 to 102 by covering nearly 40,000 farmers from 2,800 villages in all the district head quarters and important cities in Andhra Pradesh. Rythu Bazars are located on Government lands identified by the District Collectors. The location shall have to be convenient both for the farmers and consumers. The criteria for opening of new Rythu Bazars is the

availability of at least one acre of land in strategic locations and identification of 250 vegetable growing farmers including 10 self help groups. Functional infrastructure facilities in Rythu Bazar / farmers market: (i)Road : The Rythu Bazar / Farmers Market should have wide approach road of Minimum 6m width for customers to drive in and out of the Bazar compound. The roads should be hard surfaced and should have minimum standards necessary to withstand the wear and tear due to the projected traffic. (ii) compound Wall: The compound wall should have a foundation depth of 1.0 m below ground level. Normally PCC of mix ratio (1: 5: 10) is put below the foundation wall. The material to be used for foundation construction may be stone masonry in cement mortar of concrete. (iii) Stall: The total number of stall in each Rythu Bazar / Farmers Market will depend upon the number of stalls to be allotted by the Department of Agricultural Marketing to each Farmers Group / Mandal, SHG, DWACRA groups, NAFED, Khadi and Village Industries Board, Dist. Co-op. Marketing Societies etc. In this particular model, construction of 250 number of stall has been considered. It is assumed that 200 stalls are allotted to farmer groups / mandals and the remaining 50 stalls are allotted to SHG / DWACRA / BPL groups etc. for selling other commodities to the farmers and consumers so that the farmers do not have to move far off places to buy their consumer items. (iv) Farmers rest room cum training center: A room of size 3.6m x 6m may be constructed to act as restrooms for the farmers. The rooms may also be used as a training center for imparting training on nursery development/vermicomposting/biofertilizer Provision may be made by the preparation/ integrated pest of management, nutrition management etc. (v) Small Sized Godown : Market Functionaries/Department Agriculture Marketing for construction of a small 50/100 MT capacity godown for the sellers/SHGs/DWACRA group members to store their non perishable goods and other commodities for short durations. Depending on movement of perishable produce in the market yard, construction of a cold storage may be considered. (vi) Market User Common Facilities : Provision should be made to provide market user common facilities such as (a) cleaning (b)

grading and sorting (c) weighing and packaging of the produce being brought by the farmers for sale in the Rythu Bazar/Farmers Market. An area of 15 square meters may be provided for the office to house staff and equipment like Computer, Printer, Typewriter, Telephone fax machine etc.

Rythu Bazars in Hyderabad District There are 9 Rythu Bazars in Greater Hyderabad district. They are situated at Alwal, Mehdipatnam, Kukatpally ,Kothapet , Vanasthali Puram , Erragadda, Quthbullapur, Falaknuma, Ramakrishnapuram (i)Alwal Rythu Bazar is in the major residential suburb of secunderabad the twin cities of Hyderabad city. It has a population of 1, 06,424 (2001 census) and forms part of the Greater Hyderabad agglomeration.(ii) Mehdipatnam Rythu Bazar is in the major suburb in Hyderabad. It is a part of the old city of Hyderabad. It is the centre for shopping for many suburbs and villages (iii)Kukatpally Rythu Bazar is in a major residential and commercial suburb in India. It is located on the northwest fringe of Hyderabad city. (iv) Kothapet Rythu Bazar (Saroor Nagar) is in a major suburb of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. This is predominantly a middle class suburb. (v) Vanathalipuram Rythu Bazar is in a residential suburb of Hyderabad. It is considered to be the second largest residential colonies in Asia. Every third Friday of the month is holiday for this Rythu Bazar. (vi) Erragadda Rythu Bazar is in a developing commercial and residential area in the west zone of Hyderabad. This Rythu Bazar is the model Rythu Bazar for Hyderabad district. Every Friday is a holiday for this Rythu Bazar. (vii) Quthbullapur Rythu Bazar is in a town and a municipality in Greater Hyderabad District in Andhra Pradesh. Every third Friday of the month is a holiday for this Rythu Bazar. (viii)Falaknuma Rythu Bazar is situated in old city area which comes under Greater Hyderabad. Falaknuma as historical importance. It is a thickly populated area, with majority of Muslim population. Every Friday is a holiday for this Rythu Bazar. (ix) Ramakrishnapuram Rythu Bazarcovers a military cantonment area. Ramakrishnapuram well known as R.K. Puram is with low

density of population. Every third Wednesday is a holiday for this Rythu Bazar. The details of all nine Rythu Bazars are given table 1 Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rythu_bazar Table 1 Details of Rythu Bazars in Hyderabad District

S. N o

Name of the Rythu Bazar

Extent area covered in acres

Average distance of farm land Covered

No. of Avg. No. of farmers visits For For Framer s Self help group s 05 15 12 06 08 18 05 09 06 84 (9) Self helpgrou ps No. of Stalls

No. of Register ed farmers Average No. of consumer s visiting

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Alwal Mehdipatn am Kukatpally Kothapet Vanathalip uram Erragadda Quthbullap ur Falaknuma Ramakrish napur TOTAL

1.17 2 1.20 2 2.2 2.5 1 1 1 14.07

40 km 50 km 72 km 60 km 70 km 60 km 80 km 56 km 60 km ( 60.9 )

220 450 360 200 160 350 120 180 130 270 ( 241 )

15 15 12 08 08 16 05 09 06 94 ( 10 )

118 350 280 144 108 230 46 111 42 1429 ( 158 )

2300 5000 4200 3200 2600 7500 1800 2200 2000 30800 ( 3422 )

4,200 4,500 5,500 4,000 2,800 6,000 1,200 1,800 1,500 31500 ( 3500 )

Note: Figures in parenthesis indicate averages.

Chief Executive Officer, Rythu Bazar, O/o Comr. & Director of Agril. Marketing, Govt. of A.P., Hyderabad

Expendi S. No Name of the Rythu Bazar ture to run Rythu Bazar Rent from Self Help groups 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Alwal Mehdipatna m Kukatpally Kothapet Vanathalipur am Erragadda Quthbullapur Falaknuma Ramakrishna 9 -puram 18,000 2,82,000 22,000 2,000 2,500 44,500 7,04,00 0 Born by Got 45,000 45,000 32,000 21,000 20,000 36,000 45,000 20,000 18,000 50,000 42,000 40,000 30,000 80,000 55,000 28,000 2,700 3,200 3,500 2,800 2,900 4,400 3,100 2,100 Parking Toilet Cantee n 2,000 4,000 5,000 2,000 3,000 5,500 2,800 3,500 Total Income / Per month

67,700 1,02,20 0 82,500 65,800 55,900 1,25,90 0 1,05,90 0 53,600

TOTAL

3,65,000

26,700

30,300

Table 2 District

Expenditure and Income of Rythu Bazars at Hyderabad

Rythu Bazars are Govt. organizations and the whole expenditure incurred to run, Rythu Bazar is borne by the state Govt. of A.P. The salaries to official are paid through Govt. Fund. The Govt. has made arrangements to raise funds for Rythu Bazars from themselves to certain extent. These funds are raised through rents of stalls/ sheds to self help groups, rents from canteen, toilet usage fee and through auction of parking of space to private agencies. The average estimated income to Rythu Bazar is estimated as Rs. 78,200. The details are given in table 2 There is a proposal from the state government to increase the rent for stalls allotted to self help groups by rupees 1000 each to meet the increasing expenditure of the Rythu Bazars. The fund raised is credited to Rythu Bazar funds and used for the purpose of providing sanitation, drinking water facility, purchase and repair of weighing instruments at Rythu Bazar. We can observe such an income of different Rythu Bazars in the above table no. 2 2008 During the survey, in the month of August 2008 in all the nine Rythu Bazars, the data regarding the arrival of different vegetables in quintals and their prices fixed in Rythu Bazars in comparison with the rates in open market were collected. Accordingly the most commonly available 10 vegetables were sorted out and analyzed the data is given in the Table The most commonly available vegetables in nine Rythu Bazars were found as tomato, brinjal, ladys finger, green chilli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrot, potato, onions, ribbed gourd and the data of their weight at entry level were collected. To compare the prices of local market, prices were also Important vegetables marketed through Rythu Bazars during the survey in the month August -

collected. It is significantly found that the prices at Rythu Bazar are lower than the open market rates. Monitoring of Rythu Bazar Monitoring in Rythu Bazars is done every day through out the marketing period by the Estate Officer with the supervisors. These officials see whether the weighing scales are properly used and the farm vendors are selling their produce at the prices fixed by them. They also check that there are no disputes between the farmers and consumers. If they receive any complaint from the consumer regarding the calibration of weighing scales or price. Immediately the enquiry is made and the problem is solved. If necessary the produce of the complained farmer is immediately seized and suspended for sale at Rythu Bazar. Even the dispute among the farmer vendors are also resolved by the Estate Officer. Therefore, it is observed that, the Estate Officer and the Supervisors help in smooth running of the Rythu Bazars. Thus the idea of Rythu Bazars / Farmers market was an innovation to promote the idea of direct sale by farmers to consumers without involving the middlemen. Such innovations to remove any obstacles in marketing by farmers could help in the removal of middlemen and money lenders. The Rythu Bazar week is being celebrated all over the state from January 2nd to 8th to review and improve the functioning of these Rythu Bazars. It is generally agreed that the Rythu Bazars have stabilized the prices in the local market, specially that of vegetables and the consumers have opined that they get fresh vegetable at cheaper rates at least by Rs. 2 /- or Rs. 3 /- per Kg. The vegetable consumers satisfaction is found to be a boon to farmer vendors who market there farm produce at these Rythu Bazars.

ANALYSIS

Farmers Vendors at Rythu Bazar: The socio economic characteristics of vegetables farmer vendors selling their produce at Rythu Bazars are collected through a questionnaire which consisted of important variables regarding their personal information like age, sex, caste, education qualification, land holding, the different vegetables they grow and market them at Rythu Bazars. Their economic status and their marketing activities at Rythu Bazar were collected and analyzed. The important factors such as the working of Rythu Bazar and the infrastructural facilities provided for the purpose of marketing for the farmer vendors and the customers who come to buy vegetables were also collected and analyzed. The pertinent questions which cover to test weather the objectives of the concept of Rythu Bazar is achieved from the farmer vendors view point were also carefully collected and analyzed to draw the inferences. Socio Economic Characteristics of farmer vendors Age: From the sample it is found that the farmer vendors who come to Rythu Bazars are mostly in their prime age that is 25 to 35 year, followed by 36 -50 and above 50. The details are given in the table 4 Table 4 Age and Sex of the farmer vendors who come to Rythu

Bazar in Hyderabad [GHMC] Category - Age 20 - 35 36 50 50 above Total

S. No 1 2 3

Male 55 15 7 77

Female 7 10 6 23

Percentage 62 25 15 100

Sex:

The majority of the sample farmer vendors are male. The considerable proportion of female farmer vendors also involve in marketing the vegetable. While coming to Rythu Bazars at least in some cases both husband and wife together market their farm produce. Therefore, in certain stalls, SHGs female members and individual female members are taking part in marketing at Rythu Bazars [table 4] Education Table 5 The Educational level of the farmer vendors S. N o 1 2 3 4 Category Illiterates Upto Primary Upto Secondary Above Secondary Total No. 35 25 30 10 100

Percentag e 35 % 25 % 30 % 10 % 100

From the above table 5 it is found that most of the farmer vendors are literate i.e. 65 % and only 35 % are illiterate. Majority of the literate farm vendors have studied upto secondary followed by primary and above secondary levels. It is also found that the youth ranging from 15-25 years of age are literates who had education upto S.S.C. and above and the elder farmers are mostly illiterates. Caste wise distributions of the farmer vendors are given below Table 6 Caste wise distributions of the farmer vendors at Rythu Bazars S. N Caste No. Percentag e

o 1 2 3 4

ST SC BC Others ( F.C. & Muslim ) Total

03 35 41 21 100

3% 35 % 41 % 42 %

It is found that the farmer vendors who sell their produce at Rythu Bazars mostly belong to schedule caste i.e 41 percent followed by backward caste 35 percent other caste which comprises of forward caste like Reddys, Chowdarioes and Muslims 21 percent and farmers belonging to schedule tribe 03 percent. Thus most of the sample of vendors belongs to either SC or BC caste. Therefore the Rythu Bazars are found to be very helpful to SC and BC. However the farmers belonging to other castes like forward castes & Muslims who mostly belong to marginal and small farmers are found to be patronizing the Rythu Bazars [table 6] Sources of Irrigation to Grow Vegetables Table 7 Sources of Irrigation for growing vegetables by the farmer vendors to supply to Rythu Bazar Total wet land in acres 220 137 13 150 370

S. No 1 2 3

Sources of Irrigation Dry ( Rain Fed ) land Bore wells / Wells Canals Total wet land Grand Total

Percentag e 59.5 37.0 3.50 40.5 100.0

No. of farmers 100 64 6 70 100

Percentag e 100 64 6 70 100

In the sample of 370 acres of land only, 150Acres of land is under irrigation facility like bore well / canals which is considered to be wet land. It is used for growing vegetables and other produces. It is also found that about

220 Acres of dry is land also used for growing vegetables. Of the total farmers 70 percent have wet land also. In other wards 30 percent of farmers have only dry land, while 70 percent farmers have both dry and wet lands [table 7] vegetables grown by farmer vendors Table 8 commonly grown vegetables by farmer vendors of Rythu

Bazars Vegetables grown Tomato Brinjal Ladys Finger Potato Leafy Vegetables Green Chilies Cabbage French Beans Cauliflower Beet Root Cucumber Bitter Gourd Ridge Gourd Collocasion Cluster Beans Snake Gourd Drum stick Pumpkin Raddish Yam Carrot Onion Donda Capsicum Green plantam Sweet Potato Spring Onions Filed Beans Green Mango Others No. of farmers grown there vegetables 62 31 25 23 23 22 20 19 19 14 12 11 10 09 08 08 08 07 06 06 06 05 05 04 04 03 03 02 01 -

S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

More than 30 different varieties of vegetables are supplied and sold at Rythu Bazars besides leafy vegetables, fruit and flowers. Mostly these varieties are grown locally. Farmers generally grow more than two or three varieties of vegetables. The cultivation or growing of these vegetables depends upon the season and demand. The most commonly grown vegetables by farmer vendors to supply to Rythu Bazar are analyzed and presented in table. Accordingly the vegetables like tomato, ladys finger, brinjal, green chilies are mostly grown by majority of farmers followed by Potatoes, Cauliflower, French beans, cabbages are some of the important vegetables grown by the farmers. Other vegetables are grown by less number of farmers and in less quantity. Leafy vegetables like coriander, spinach etc. are also in regular demand, lime, drum sticks, Papaya, Mangoes etc., are also in extreme demand and more shortage according to the farmer vendors. However it is found that tomato is most popularity grown and demanded vegetable with 62 percent followed by brinjal, ladys finger, leafy vegetables, capsicum etc., it is also found that at least with 2 percent. Locally not grown vegetables are supplied from other states and marketed by SHGs. [Table 8] I Income and expenditure pattern of farmer vendors at Rythu Expenditure pattern: Income and expenditure pattern of farmer vendors has been analyzed. Accordingly majority of the farmer vendors ( 56 percent ) spend or invest on an average monthly a sent Rs. 2,270 /- followed by 26 percent spend about Rs. 4,560 /- and just 10 percent spend about Rs. 8,750 /- and only 8 percent spend about Rs. 850 /- per month. In other words on an average the farmer vendor spend about Rs. 3,400/- per month. The details are presented in table 9 Table 9 Monthly average Expenditure/Investment of farmer vendors who come to Rythu Bazars. Bazars

S. N o 1 2 3 4 Investment Upto 1000 1000 2500 2500 5000 5000 10000 Total No. 8 56 26 10 100

Total Investment 6,800 1,27,120 1,18,560 83,500 3,39,980 Average 850 2270 4560 8750 3400

Average = 3,400. Gross Sale: In the same way average month gross sale proceeds are estimated. Accordingly the average monthly gross sale proceeds is about Rs. 6,852/-. Almost half of the farmer vendors get Rs. 8,700/- to as high as Rs. 15,700/- while half of them get about Rs. 1,560/- to Rs. 3,765/- [table 10] Table 10 S. No Monthly sales proceeds of farmer vendors at Rythu Bazars. Gross Sales No. Total Investment 31,200 1,12,950 3,05,200 2,35,875 6,85,225 Average 1560 3765 8720 15275 6852

1 2 3 4

Upto 2000 2000 5000 5000 10000 10000 - 20000 Total

20 30 35 15 100 Average = 6,852.

S.N o

Table 11 Problems of Formers at Rythu Bazar Problem Respons e

Percetag e

( N=100) 1 Lack of cold storage ( infra structure) facility Absence of periodical cleaning and spraying of anti insecticides in the premises of Rythu bazar leading to accumulation of heaps of garbage and 2 3 4 5 breeding of flies and mosquitoes Lack of proper facility to dispose the spoiled produce Insufficient number of stalls preference given to self help groups for allotment of stalls Existence of corporate bazaars like Reliance, Fresh, Subhiksha, Spencers, etc., discourage pretty formers to sell their produce at 6 7 8 9 Rythubazar Walking pathways are occupied by small vendors at the entrance Stalls space is not sufficient Bargaining and sorting of vegetables by consumers Fixing of Prices by Rythu Bazaar officials is Arbitrary and some times less than the actual 10 11 12 market rates Political influence Indulging in mall practices by Rythubazar Contract Officials 30 12 10 30 12 10 72 64 60 34 72 64 60 34 92 85 80 75 92 85 80 75 98 98

Table 12

Problems of Faced by the consumers at Rythu Bazaar

Respons S.N o Problem Prevalence of unhygienic condition emitting foul smell and infected with flies and 1 2 3 4 5 mosquitoes High Prizes during weekend problem of parking vehicles especially weekends Location of Rythu bazars are not convenient Formers do not allow sorting out vegetables First grade vegetables are auctioned to corporate bazaars only second grade produce 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 is for sale at rythu bazars Walking pathways are congested and occupied by small vendors No much difference in the rate of commodities compare to open market Stale and fresh vegetables are mixed to cheat the consumers Some former ignored price list and charge more Currency change hinders the transaction Formers refusal to sell small quantities locating and identification of rythu bazar official is difficult Source : The Study Survey 66 58 50 42 40 38 36 20 66 58 50 42 40 38 36 20 90 88 84 77 70 90 88 84 77 70 e ( N=100) Percentag e

Net Income: Average monthly profit or net income has been estimated for the sample farmer vendors who visit to Rythu Bazars. To estimate monthly profit are net income, the average gross sales is taken as gross profit and average expenditure or investment which includes labour, inputs and transport and other over head expenditure of farm vendors are considered.

Care has been taken while estimating different variables includes cost of seeds, fertilizer pesticides, electricity charges and labor charges including transport charges according to the farmer vendors. Thus monthly average profit or net income has been estimated as gross sales minus expenditure. Accordingly the average monthly profit to an average farmer vendor has been estimated as Rs. about Rs. 3,452 /-. Majority of the farmer vendors get net income or profit less than Rs. 2,275 /- per month. These farmer vendors are mostly marginal and small farmers. About 48 percent of farmer vendors get monthly net income to the tune of Rs. 4,500 /- to Rs. 7,400 /-. Summary:

Initially about 49 Rythu Bazar or Kisan Ki Mandi are initiated by the government of Andhra Pradesh on January 6th, 1999. Within a span of nine months, number of Rythu Bazars has increased from 49 to 102 by covering nearly 40,000 farmers from 2,800 villages in all the district head quarters and important cities in Andhra Pradesh. The average estimated income to Rythu Bazar is estimated as Rs. 78,200. The most commonly available vegetables in nine Rythu Bazars were found as tomato, brinjal, ladys finger, green chilli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrot, potato, onions, ribbed gourd and the data of their weight at entry level were collected. To compare the prices of local market, prices were also collected. It is significantly found that the prices at Rythu Bazar are lower than the open market rates. The Rythu Bazar week is being celebrated all over the state from January 2nd to 8th to review and improve the functioning of these Rythu Bazars. It is generally agreed that the Rythu Bazars have stabilized the prices in the local market, specially that of vegetables and the consumers have opined that they get fresh vegetable at cheaper rates at least by Rs. 2 /- or Rs. 3 /- per Kg. The vegetable consumers satisfaction is found to be a boon to farmer vendors who market there farm produce at these Rythu Bazars.

Income and expenditure pattern of farmer vendors has been analyzed. Accordingly majority of the farmer vendors ( 56 percent ) spend or invest on an average monthly a sent Rs. 2,270 /- followed by 26 percent spend about Rs. 4,560 /- and just 10 percent spend about Rs. 8,750 /- and only 8 percent spend about Rs. 850 /- per month. In other words on an average the farmer vendor spend about Rs. 3,400/- per month and the average monthly gross sale proceeds is about Rs. 6,852/-. Almost half of the farmer vendors get Rs. 8,700/- to as high as Rs. 15,700/- while half of them get about Rs. 1,560/- to Rs. 3,765/- the average monthly profit to an average farmer vendor has been estimated as Rs. about Rs. 3,452 /-. Majority of the farmer vendors get net income or profit less than Rs. 2,275 /per month. These farmer vendors are mostly marginal and small farmers. About 48 percent of farmer vendors get monthly net income to the tune of Rs. 4,500 /- to Rs. 7,400 /-. At the outset, Rythu bazaars are very much useful for the customers as well as farmers, therefore, continous support from the government is necessary condition.